The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) protects disabled people. The DDA defines a person as disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long term (ie has lasted or is expected to last at least 12 months) and adverse effect on the person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

The list below contains an example of the types of impairment:

• Physical impairment, such as difficulty using your arms or mobility issues which means using a wheelchair or crutches.
• Sensory impairment, such as being blind/having a serious visual impairment or being deaf/having a serious hearing impairment.
• Mental health conditions, such as depression or schizophrenia.
• Learning disabilities such as dyslexia or cognitive impairment such as autism.
• Long-standing illness or health condition such as cancer, HIV, diabetes, chronic heart disease, or epilepsy.
• Other, such as disfigurement.